Mziki Safari Lodge. Food served with love.

 

 

 

This post carries images of food that might make the reader want to try to recreate the dishes or contact a food delivery service…

Either way, Travel & Things cannot be held responsible.

 

 

 

It is said that “An army marches on its stomach”. And if that adage is true, then the same can be said for a game lodge.

Kego, the Executive chef at Mziki, is responsible for full bellies and broad smiles at every meal.

You cannot visit this lodge without praising her friendly disposition and wonderful food.

And now with her brand new kitchen, she is even happier and the guests experience her joy in their food daily.

 

 

 

A breakfast of champions.

For me, who usually has cereal for breakfast at home daily, a cooked breakfast is a treat.

And when both the bacon and the scrambled eggs are cooked the way I like them, I am a happy person for the rest of the day.

I can hear some readers saying “Those are simple and easy to prepare”. I would beg to differ and say that neither are.

For some reason here in South African kitchens the chefs do not know how to prepare proper crispy bacon. It either arrives on the plate looking like it has been boiled or looking like it has been burned to a crisp with a blow torch.

Not here! The bacon has the exact ‘crunch’ I was looking for without having to send it back.

Scrambled eggs can also be a disaster, Being either watery or so hard that you can bounce it off the floor. Again, not the case here. They were light, fluffy and delicious.

 

 

 

I will eat soup no matter what the weather. I will not eat cold soup but place a bowl of steamy, hot soup in front of me and I am almost prepared to forego the rest of the meal.

Add a slice (or two) of freshly baked bread and that is me done and dusted.

FYI: The history of soup dates back thousands of years to early human civilizations, where it was a simple combination of ingredients such as grains, vegetables, and meat simmered in water.

The earliest historical suggestion dates back to 20,000 BC.

 

 

 

I am SO glad when it is the turn of someone to prepare the meat on the braai.

You cannot visit a game lodge without sitting down to this iconic South African meal.

Take note. Here in South Africa, we braai and we do not BBQ. Many people consider them to be the same, but they are not.

The most noticeable difference is a braai is usually done with wood or charcoal, while a BBQ can be done with gas, electric or pellet grills.

A braai also tends to keep the fire going for longer than a BBQ, even after the food is cooked, as people gather around it for socializing and warmth.

And the visit to Mziki was no different.

 

 

 

South Africa on a plate?

I believe that it is…A piece of wors (sausage), a steak, cooked medium rare and chicken.

In some Provinces in South Africa chicken is considered a vegetable and lamp chops are added to the plate.

Add to that peas, pap with sauce, baked beans and cauliflower and what more do you need?

When we braai at home it is me that is usually at the fire away from the guests and the chatter, but here, the best aspect of this dish was that I did not have to cook it. (Thanks Kego)

 

 

 

Did I tell you how much I like soup… and here is yet another bowl to drive that point home.

Did you know? In Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province, China, the first example of a soup bowl was discovered and thought to date back to 20,000 BC. The ancient pottery showed scorch marks, suggesting that the user was making a hot soup of some description.

 

 

 

The ‘green veg’ was just to please my wife. She battles to get me to eat certain veggies and in the 20+ years we have been together, she has never given up trying.

I am proudly meat and potatoes, but as I get older I know that there will HAVE to be more green on my plate.

I think that during this visit she and Kego colluded to get me to comply…

 

 

 

BEFORE

 

There is an unwritten law that game lodges HAVE to serve Malva pudding to guests at least once during their stay.

If biltong is the iconic drink stop snack, then this is the dessert that is the plated equivalent.

It can be eaten warm or cold and the custard can be served similarly.

There is a theory that the pudding was named after a woman called Malva.

Another theory is that the sauce originally contained Malvasia (malmsey) wine.

 

 

 

AFTER

 

Did you know? Malva pudding has Dutch origins.

Supposedly Dutch colonists brought the pudding here in the mid-1600s, to stay connected to their European roots.

And those of us who have sampled this delicious dessert, know that it certainly has the makings of a comfort food.

 

 

 

Sunday lunch buffet.

BTW, the people in this photo live on a neighbouring property and permitted me to use them as ‘models’.

Kego STILL smiling and the concentration on the faces of the lunch guests just proves that choices were difficult.

 

 

 

Sunday buffet lunch.

There was a different mid-day meal on offer each day of our stay.

The carrot and pineapple salad on the plate is one of my all-time favourites. You can also add raisins to the dish if you wish to.

Add to that potato salad, wedges and a chicken pie of note.

The lodge serves three meals a day and if you are still peckish, there are at least two tins of freshly baked cookies and rusks next to the coffee machine in the dining room.

Loose-fitting clothes are recommended for the duration of your stay!

 

 

 

The family that eats together, stays together.

A good time was had by all and I did not hear any of the parents at the table having to beg their offspring to eat.

 

 

 

There are slap chips, there are French Fries and there are crisps…And then there are THESE potato wedges that vanished in a flash.

I have to admit I returned to the serving table for a second helping, purely for research purposes you understand, only to find that there was only ONE  left.

As there were children present, I left it for them to argue over…

 

 

 

One more breakfast and we have to go!

Our thanks to Kego and her unseen staff who made this return visit memorable.

If you are looking for a safari getaway close to both Johannesburg and Pretoria, this is might just be what you are looking for.

 

 

 

To find out what the loge offers, click on the logo above.

 

 

 

Travel is the proud winner of this prestigious award from the digital British lifestyle magazine Luxlife. The award is in the category Best Travel & Experiences Blog 2024 – South Africa.

 

 

 

Check out the archived and current interviews… click on the image above.

 

 

“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?”

Edgar Bergen